• An Open door column incorrectly stated that in Wales "there is no separate executive and legislature". The Government of Wales Act 2006 changed that, separating the national assembly for Wales from the executive, the Welsh government (25 October, page 35).

• An interview piece sited a Zaha Hadid-designed school – the Evelyn Grace Academy – in the Hackney area of London instead of Brixton ('I'm happy to be on the outside', 9 October, page 34).

• Some examples of wrong usage have been slipping through in our naming of ships. HMS stands for Her Majesty's Ship and therefore needs no definite article. A report on the last ship expected to go down a Clyde slipway included a photo caption reading "The HMS Duncan Type 45 warship being launched into the Clyde at high tide yesterday" (Slipway launch of warship marks end of an era, 12 October, page 14, early editions). A piece headed Spanish armada sets sail to claim deep-sea treasure said an agreement was signed with the British government "to explore the wreck of the HMS Sussex" (6 October, guardian.co.uk). Country diary said: "The Rev Leonard Jenyns was to decline the offer of the naturalist's berth on the HMS Beagle" (11 September, page 30).